LEGAL NEWSLINE

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco delivered remarks at the ATF's Inaugural Gun Violence Survivors' Summit on April 23, 2024. She expressed her gratitude to all attendees, especially those who have lost loved ones to gun violence, stating, "Your presence honors their memory and fuels our fight for a better, safer future."Monaco acknowledged the courage and commitment of the community gathered at the summit, emphasizing that despite being survivors, advocates, and members of law enforcement from diverse backgrounds, they are bound by extraordinary courage. She highlighted...

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC (CNS) has agreed to pay $18.4 million to settle allegations of timecard fraud involving the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the Pantex Site near Amarillo, Texas. The settlement comes after CNS was accused of knowingly submitting false claims for work not performed between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2020.Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton emphasized the government's stance on the issue, stating, “We will not tolerate the misuse of public funds by those who do business with the United States....

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland addressed a gathering at ATF’s Inaugural Gun Violence Survivors’ Summit, expressing gratitude for the introduction he received and acknowledging the hard work of the ATF professionals in protecting communities.Garland also highlighted the importance of meeting gun violence survivors, stating, "They shared with me their stories, their grief, and their devotion to preventing other families from experiencing the profound loss that they have experienced."Reflecting on the victims of gun violence, Garland emphasized the impact each...

A Florida man, Niselio Barros Garcia Jr., has been sentenced to 48 months in prison for his involvement in laundering the proceeds of scams against American consumers and businesses to co-conspirators in Nigeria. Garcia, of Winter Garden, was part of a network that facilitated the laundering of funds from romance scams, business email compromises, and other fraud schemes by supplying bank accounts and using a cryptocurrency exchange to transfer the funds in Bitcoin to Nigeria.According to court documents, Garcia personally laundered over $2.3 million of criminal proceeds...

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a civil settlement with victims of the sexual abuse perpetrated by former physician and USA Gymnastics official Lawrence Gerard Nassar. The settlements are in response to 139 administrative claims arising from allegations of sexual abuse committed by Nassar.Nassar, who was arrested in 2016 by the State of Michigan, had sexually abused hundreds of victims over nearly two decades under the pretense of medical treatments. These settlements aim to address administrative claims against the United States regarding the...

The Justice Department has unveiled charges against four Iranian nationals involved in a cyber campaign targeting U.S. companies, including government entities and defense contractors. Hossein Harooni, Reza Kazemifar, Komeil Baradaran Salmani, and Alireza Shafie Nasab are accused of engaging in a hacking scheme that compromised American organizations, as well as the U.S. Departments of Treasury and State.Attorney General Merrick B. Garland emphasized the severity of the situation, stating, "Criminal activity originating from Iran poses a grave threat to America’s national...

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) has announced the upcoming NexGen 2.0 FOIA Tech Showcase for federal agencies, scheduled to take place on May 14-16, 2024. The event aims to address existing FOIA case processing and backlog challenges by identifying technology solutions and showcasing advanced technological capabilities.The event will feature a range of vendors providing video demonstrations of their technology products tailored for agency FOIA administration. Following each demonstration, there will be a Q&A session allowing agencies to interact with the vendors...

Ricardo Middleton, 32, of Boston, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release after a jury found Middleton guilty in December 2023 of sex trafficking a young woman through force, fraud, and coercion and obstruction in Maine.Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division expressed, "This significant sentence imposed by the court reflects the severity of the defendant’s exploitation of the victim over three days. He used drugs, threats, physical force and rape to force her to engage in...

Luxury handbag company Gzuniga Ltd., its founder Nancy Teresa Gonzalez de Barberi and Gonzalez’s associate Mauricio Giraldo were sentenced to prison today for illegally importing merchandise from Colombia to the United States that was made from protected wildlife. All had previously pleaded guilty.Gzuniga was ordered to forfeit all handbags and other previously seized product, banned for three years from any activities involving commercial trade in wildlife and sentenced to serve three years of probation. Gonzalez was sentenced to 18 months in prison with credit for time...

A New Jersey man has been charged with a federal hate crime for breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU) in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and destroying property."Jacob Beacher, 24, of Somerset County, was arrested this morning and charged by complaint with one count of intentional or attempted obstruction of religious practice and one count of making false statements to federal authorities." According to the criminal complaint, on April 10, during the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, Beacher broke into the CILRU around 2:41 a.m., where he damaged the...

OVW conducted a live web-based pre-application information session for its Fiscal Year 2024 Restorative Practices Pilot Program Evaluation solicitation. During the presentation, OVW staff reviewed this program’s requirements, discussed the solicitation, and allowed for a brief question-and-answer period.

The Criminal Division has unveiled a new pilot program aimed at encouraging individuals to come forward and disclose corporate wrongdoing. This initiative, announced earlier this week, focuses on voluntary self-disclosures for individuals involved in criminal conduct, with the promise of a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) for those who meet specific criteria.According to a statement from the Criminal Division, the program is designed to incentivize individuals to report misconduct that was previously unknown to the department. Individuals who voluntarily, truthfully, and...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - Out-of-state lawyers had no authority to file a notice of a medical malpractice lawsuit in Arkansas, a state appeals court ruled.

Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim addressed a gathering at a volunteer service event in Washington, D.C., to mark Earth Day. He expressed gratitude to Washington Parks & People for their partnership in revitalizing greenspaces and highlighted the importance of their work in line with the Earth Day theme of "Planet versus Plastics." Kim also drew attention to Marvin Gaye's advocacy for the environment and the ongoing global efforts to negotiate a treaty to end plastic pollution.Kim commended the dedication of those working towards environmental causes and emphasized the...

Chief of National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, Matthew F. Blue, recently delivered remarks at the EU Network Meeting on Battlefield Evidence in The Hague. Blue expressed gratitude for the opportunity to discuss EU and U.S. cooperation on the sharing and utilization of battlefield evidence (BE) and collected exploitable material.Blue highlighted the importance of collaboration in protecting communities, stating, "Like the organizations you all represent, the primary mission of the Department of Justice, and in particular the office I represent, is to...

The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) marked Earth Day by releasing their accomplishments report for Fiscal Year 2023. Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of ENRD emphasized the division's dedication to environmental justice and combating the climate crisis, stating, “We do this while carrying out a mission of remarkable breadth in enforcing federal laws enacted to protect public health, worker safety, natural resources, and animal welfare."The report showcases ENRD's efforts in defending pollution control measures, renewable energy...

John Can Unsalan, also known as Hurrem Can Unsalan, the president of Metalhouse LLC, a steel trading firm based in Orlando, Florida, has been sentenced to six years in prison for his involvement in a money laundering conspiracy. His former business associate, Sergey Karpushkin, a Belarusian national residing in Miami, was also sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in the scheme.The charges stem from their dealings with Sergey Kurchenko, a pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch who was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control...

NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) - A lawyer who worked at a Houston law firm that has run afoul of the law will get a second chance to show he shouldn't have been suspended for nine months.

Two former Crawford County, Arkansas, sheriff’s deputies, Levi White, 34, and Zackary King, 28, have pleaded guilty to federal civil rights offenses for using unlawful force on a man they arrested.“The defendants swore an oath to uphold the law, then violated that oath and abused their power by assaulting a person who was pinned to the ground and not resisting,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.“The videos from this incident are a shocking display of the violent deprivation of civil rights committed by...

Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer recently delivered remarks at the Access to Justice's Reentry Simulation event, expressing his gratitude to the organizers and participants for their involvement in the initiative. Mizer highlighted the importance of the simulation in shedding light on the challenges faced by individuals reintegrating into society post-incarceration.Mizer acknowledged the collaborative efforts of various agencies and organizations, including the Office for Access to Justice and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, in supporting reentry...